Fatally-flawed approach

PRISM voice concerns

UK & Europe

Widespread dissatisfaction with the government’s approach to employment rules will give ministers no choice but to act once the Taylor Review reports, trade body PRISM reports.

The employment intermediary trade association believes the high water mark of disjointed policy making has been reached, exacerbating the competing interest of unions, gig economy platforms, workers, intermediaries and tax officials.

Workers’ rights, benefits, employment protections, flexibility and lost tax revenue have been driving all stakeholders in different directions for years.

The association has been taking soundings while the review it has sponsored is carried out by the Social Market Foundation. PRISM has now observed such substantial agreement between stakeholders across the board over how policy should be made that it believes the government will have no choice but to remodel the legal and tax framework for workers once Matthew Taylor’s recommendations are made to avoid almost total disaffection among workers and businesses.

PRISM says this common ground was reinforced at an event hosted by the Involvement and Participation Association (IPA) recently.

Crawford Temple, chief executive of PRISM, said: “I was struck by how many calls there were for clarity, transparency and direction.

“That was the overwhelming theme of the event as one person after another echoed a desire to see joined up policy making solve these issues once and for all. This wasn’t the first time. It has become an ever-present wish at every event I attend.

“I think this is what will separate the Taylor Review from many other reviews that have come before it in many different areas of government. Often when these types of inquiries are commissioned, someone goes away, does some thinking and offers up some ideas. Quite often this is because the government needs to be seen to be doing something but changes are adopted slowly if at all.

“We are in a different place with Matthew Taylor. The tectonic plates of employment and tax law are moving apart like never before and there is no force on Earth that is going to allow the current regime to preside over them effectively in two or three years’ time. Things are changing too quickly and the government are not going to be able to simply kick this can down the road any more.

“It is an uncertain time but it is also reassuring to know that whatever happens we are likely to end up with a better fit than we have at the moment, an attempt at fairness in which knock-on-effects of policy changes have been considered properly.”